A17 Artistic Game Development I

Exploration Platformer Level 1:

-Jack Riley

Rough sketch of the Level:

Screenshot of the Maya mockup:

The Maya mockup in Unity:

Although this level was made in the style of a 2D platformer, it could be converted into a 3D platformer if needed.

As the last level of my game, the map of the level looks like this:

In which the green arrow indicates the direction Max the Magnificient is escaping.

3D Overview:

I haven’t quite got to build the obstacles since I am still thinking about which kind of obstacle is appropriate in the game. And the blue blocks roughly indicate the furniture in the queen’s room.

As part of my Pikmin meets Royal Mice game, one of the levels will feature the kitchen and dining hall of the castle.

Arrows denote the flow of the level. The goal of this level is to gather enough food to survive in hiding.

Overview of the level.

The dining hall.

The kitchen (oven in the back).

(Keep in mind, the player characters are mice, so these rooms are much bigger than they appear here).

Game Concept

• PLAYER OBJECTIVES

As mice hide from AI/NPC cat and find items on your way to the cat in order to level up and better fight the cat. As cat find and kill AI/NPC mice on your way to the final showdown in order to level up and better fight the player mice. Once done fight each other in an arena.

• GAME MECHANICS

the game would play like Dark Souls meets Evolve with procedural levels. The single player would consist of going through the levels and collecting gear to fight the cat and then having the option to fight and AI cat or a player cat. Alternatively you could play as the cat hunt AI mice through the levels and then have the option to fight AI character mice of player mice in the arena. Players would also have to option to jump right into arena fights between the cat and the mice with set gear.

• CHARACTERS AND KEY OBJECTS

Guinevere: She is a healer. She can use long range weapons as well as heal the other mice. She has average attack and health but moves slightly slower, but makes up for it by being able to attack from long range as well as heal. She is the only one that can use bows and crossbows her other weapon is a small dagger used to do small damage and light stuns. She can heal from up close or far away but the closer she is to the other mice the more she heals. She also has a power to heal herself and gain armor to absorb one hit ala Quen from The Witcher, although she can cast that spell she has no normal block and the armor has a cool down. She should prioritize keeping herself and the other mice a live as oppose to killing the cat. All her skills revolve around healing. She cannot dodge.

Weapons: bows, crossbows, small dagger, healing staff                                                   Skills: long range heal (the closer to target the more it heals), healing touch (recover large portion of health), revive (4 uses), armor spell (can be used on anyone),                                                                                                                                         Attack: medium 5/10                                                                                                             Defense: medium 6/10                                                                                                         Health: medium 6/10                                                                                                               Speed: slower 3-4/10                                                                                                                    Range: high 10/10

Cadbury: Has the highest attack but lower health, he is the only one that can use the magic sword. He can use a small shield. He is more of an assault class. Because he can use the magic sword he can stun the cat as well as do much more damage, he should be one of the main characters use to kill the cat. His block will mediate some of the damage done by the cat. His dodge is the only thing that can be used to avoid damage. All of his skills revolve around damaging the cat. He also has a skill that can increase damage to a certain area of the cat depending on where he attacks. His magic sword is the most powerful weapon in the game.

Weapons: Magic sword, small sword, blessed axe, small shield, potion                      Skills: axe throw (throw axe and increase damage to cat in that area for a short amount of time but weapon must be recovered), Magic hit (attack the cat with magic and do a large amount of damage), dodge, block, follow my lead (attack the cat and increase damage to cat in that area for a longer amount of time)       Attack: high 10/0                                                                                                                    Defense: lower 4/10                                                                                                                    Health: lower 4/10                                                                                                                       Speed: medium 6/10                                                                                                              Range: mid-close 5/10

Little Francis: Moves quicker than other characters but has less hit points. Would be smaller so he would be able to find more items in small nooks and crannies. He has the best dodge and the fastest attack speed and movement but can’t take a lot of hits. He is very much a hit and run character even though he does not have a lot of attack power his attack speed more that makes up for it. He can climb faster and farther than the other mice and is the only one who can climb on the cat. He can also string together multiple dodges. He also dual wield weapons to increase damage but cannot block.

Weapons: swords, axes, daggers, small weapons, potions                                               Skills: dodge, ghost (fade out to avoid all damage and escape but cannot attack, has a long cool down), flurry (attack one spot many times incredibly fast, mixes well with axe throw and follow my lead),                                                           Attack: low 2/10                                                                                                                       Defense: medium 3/10                                                                                                         Health: low 3/10                                                                                                                        Speed: incredibly fast 10/10                                                                                               Range: close 3/10

Gilbert the Elder: Can open locked door and chests as well as find hidden routes, hiding spaces and rooms. He has higher attack and much more health but moves very slowly due to surviving so long in the castle. More of a tank. He is the only one that can use the horn which is the strongest mouse attack in the game and can be used to stun the Cat or do a lot of damage. His other attacks are more short to mid-range attacks that don’t do much damage. He can use a bigger shield. He has the most health and can attack from mid-range with spear or similar weapon. His shield can absorb a large amount, and he has a very short dodge. His horn is the most powerful item in the game and has two uses, one will cause an army of ghost mice to attack the cat and do a large amount of damage, the other will summon the army to stun the cat for a long amount of time. He can hold a lot of weapons that can be thrown but must be recovered in order to use again.

Weapons: spear, halberd, long axe, large shield, horn, potion                                         Skills: block, throw, Horn (stun and damage), dodge                                                  Attack: higher 7/10                                                                                                             Defense: high 10/10                                                                                                               Health: high 10/10                                                                                                                     Speed: slower 2/10                                                                                                                 Range: high 5/10

Max the Magnificent: Boss character, moves and attacks slowly and has a wide range of attacks. Telegraphs before each attack. Can use tail to stun but won’t damage. Can attack with paws and bite to gain some health. He also has a pounce that does area of effect damage.

• GAME WORLD

Looks huge compared to characters would be a castle and the mice would hide from the AI cat while the find weapons and items using their various skills. The weapons found would change the fight with the cat. As the cat the player would hunt AI mouse to increase their power and health. The level would be procedural parts of the castle and the battle would take place in an arena.

• GAMEPLAY HIGHLIGHTS/HOOKS/FEATURES

4 player Dark Souls like combat in an Evolve like arena. RPG/loot elements. Single and multiplayer.

• INTENDED AUDIENCE AND HOW YOU WILL APPEAL TO IT

Those who like the style of Dark Souls but with to play with and against more people, as well as those who want single player in multiplayer centric games

• GAME STYLE/PLAYER EXPERIENCE

Evolve meets Dark Souls with procedural dungeons.  Where the boss can be played by another character and the mice would be played by four different people and they would use loot the found on the way to help fight the cat.

I think it would be really cool to explore the castle from a mouse’s point of view.

Story: You are a mouse living in a grand castle. Life is good until one day when the queen discovers your friends in the kitchen. Scared, the queen enlists the help of a cat (Max) as an exterminator for her rat problems. However, Max is lazy and sends out minions (TBD) to do his dirty work. The minions prove to be effective and are slowly getting rid of all the mice in the castle. You must destroy the minions, scare Max away, and save your friends from death.

Game Play: The player will play as a mouse on a quest to defeat Max. During this quest, the player can explore the many rooms of the castle in search of weapons and upgrades. However, the player will also need to defeat the minions that Max sends out to destroy him. There will be a final boss fight between the player and Max.

Player Objectives:
Defeat the Final Boss (Max)

Game Mechanics:
Exploring – explore the castle and find new weapons/powerups
Fighting – fight minions that Max sends out, fight final boss Max

Characters:
You would play as a Mouse on his quest to defeat Max

Key Objects:
Weapons – sword and sword upgrades
Key – only this key can open the door that leads to the horn
Horn – which summons warriors for a duration

Game World:
This would take place among the many floors and rooms of the castle

Gameplay Highlights:
There will be clues of a secret weapon, the horn
Finding the horn and using it to summon warriors

Game Style:
This game will draw a lot of inspiration from the book art

Audience + Experience:
Ages 10+ for an easy and fun game
Not a lot of experience needed

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Royalty Restoration

By Will Suriner

Concept:

The Royal Mice is about a large group of rodents that live in the princess’ castle, what I wanted to do to the story is to change the premise of it so that the mice are now on their last legs and are fighting to prevent their extinction.

For my game, I was thinking of making a point and click adventure game with a gothic feel and art style, where making the right decision is crucial to the survival of the mice. It will have a dark and musty color scheme and feel to it, as well as a horror aesthetic.

 

Story:

Max the Magnificent has been slaughtering the mice of castle one by one. However, due to the sheer amount of mice in the castle, the princess has now hired multiple cats to take out the mice. Cadbury, one of the mice queen’s right hand men, is on a very important mission, to get the sword and the horn from the chamber high in one of the towers. This will be their end game, but the trek there won’t be easy.

Max and his squad of mice murderers will do anything to help out their queen, which means ruthlessly track and kill mice as soon as they get the chance. Cadbury must travel up the castle through a multitude of rooms to get to the top and unleash the army of the undead upon Max and his squad.

 

Characters & Key Objects:

Cadbury will be the mouse you will take control of in this game, but other mice may be able to assist you in your adventure.

Other characters will include Max and his squad, which will be the ones you will try to avoid. Some other characters will be small side characters that will give advice on your way to the end goal. These characters are Guinevere the mouse princess, Filthy Francis the young trouble maker, and the Grand Gilbert the Eldest and most wise of the mice.  There will be some other mice you will meet along your journey that will be introduced later in Cadbury’s adventure.

Key objects are both the sword (sword of the dammed) and the horn (hades whistle). These are crucial to help Cadbury summon the dead and help drive out the cats that are now in control of the castle. There are going to be some other objects that will help you along your journey, but are not required to finish the game.

Game play:

This game will be a point and click adventure where your decisions impact the end of the game, and on whether you finish the game at all. The intended audience would be for anyone that is a fan of gothic and dark style games (ex: Dark Souls/Bloodborne, Limbo, Inside), and obviously for anyone who likes point and click games. The player should get a sense of dread and emptiness when playing this game as well as a lingering fear of the predators constantly trying to track you down.

Mock up of a room/ scene:

 

 

“The Scourge of Aleria” is a game about ridding the once beautiful kingdom of Aleria from the rats and diseases that came with them. In the opening of the game, the player is introduced to Queen Diala and her animal kingdom of Aleria. It is a beautiful, sprawling, technologically advanced city, until approximately 5 years before the time of the game when a huge infestation of rats moves into the city and overpopulates, driving most other inhabitants out of Aleria or into the rich district. In the 5 years after the invasion, the city has fallen apart into a steamy, polluted, overcrowded, and messy dump.

You play as Max, a cat of the Queen’s guard who has been training since a kitten to protect the queen. After a near fatal attempt is made at the queen’s life, you are tasked with ridding the city of these horrible rats with any means necessary. As the game goes on, the player will meet other characters in the city who aid Max, make him new gear, and train him with new abilities. Towards the end of the game, the rats will retaliate on the queen, and Max will have to defend Diala with other members of the queen’s guard.

The game will be set in a large open-world style city with various districts. The main elements of the game are stealth and mobility. Max can climb and run up, along, and inside almost all buildings and landmarks. When he gets near rats, trails of smell will hint the direction of the rats. If max can approach near a rat undetected he can perform a surprise assassination. If the rats notice Max due to hearing him run or seeing him, they will scurry to a hiding spot. The players must then chase after the rats, avoiding obstacles, and accurately running after them if they hope to catch the rats. As the game goes on, rats will begin to arm themselves and travel in groups for protection. Players can set traps to ambush these rats, use environmental damage to harm them, or choose to fight rats in the open. Players will have to chain together attacks and use various skills in these fights. Various crypts of a legendary cat warrior named Gallaford are hidden around the city. Gallaford was a member of the first queen’s guard centuries ago. These crypts all contain remnants of Gallaford’s legendary sword and horn, which the player must eventually collect in Zelda-like dungeons and have put back together to fight back the rats in the final act of the game.

I wanted to explore gameplay as the cat rather than as the mice, so the player had a sense of power and able to hunt enemies. I wanted an open world for the player to play in for more varied choices and better player freedom, and decided to change the setting from just one castle to a large city (run by the queen in the castle.) Most story elements from the book are kept, but rearranged (such as the sword belonging to an ancient cat rather than an ancient mouse.)

PLAYER OBJECTIVES: Sneak and kill rats while avoiding detection.

GAME MECHANICS: Climb and run around the city, stealth assassinate targets. Fight using abilities and weapons. Solve puzzles in Gallaford’s crypts.

CHARACTERS AND KEY OBJECTS: Max, Diala, Gallaford’s legendary sword and horn

GAME WORLD: A large, steampunk themed city with a dirty, grimy color-scheme except for the rich district which remains white and gold with palaces and parks. Different areas in clude the mill, the waterfront district, the city center, the slums, the industrial park, the rich district, and the Royal Palace.

GAMEPLAY HIGHLIGHTS, HOOKS, FEATURES: Non-linear gameplay, freedom to roam around, various side-quests. Fast-paced action. Enjoyable dungeon puzzles.

AUDIENCE: Teen and higher, violence and language suggest games for kids around 15 or older. Patience and skill for sneaking around and mastering the controls also requires a slightly older audience.

GAME STYLE/PLAYER EXPERIENCE: “The scourge of Aleria” is intended to give players control over their experience. You can either take the game stealthily and deliberately, or chase and fight enemies. New skills and gear, and changing enemy tactics give the player a sense of progression.

 

I intend to adapt the book to make an RPG. To maintain focus on the plot rather than point based level up stat systems, the leveling up will be behind the scenes. The game will be played from the perspective of the mice, which means that the size of the world around them will be comically exaggerated. The game will follow the mice from the introduction of Max the Magnificent into their home to when they chase him out again (the final boss battle).

Player objectives

The ultimate player objective is to secure the mice’s spot in the castle. This requires defeating Max. In order to do this, the player must first learn of the existence of the magic sword and horn and then go on a quest to retrieve them.

Game mechanics

The game will be played in third person while following around the character of Cadbury. The world will be fairly open for exploration, but the story will not advance until Cadbury achieves the necessary objectives. In order to do so, he will have to solve puzzles and defeat enemies.

Characters and key objects

Cadbury: The main character and the mouse that the players control.

Guinevere: Mouse royalty and the love interest for Cadbury.

Gilbert the Elder: The oldest, wisest mouse among them. He tells them of the existence of the sword and the horn.

Little Francis: Young mouse who stumbles across the secret room where the sword and horn are kept.

Sword: Half of the magic duo to summon the ghost mouse army.

Horn: The other half of the magic duo to summon the ghost mouse army.

Ghost mice: Deceased warrior mice that aid Cadbury in defeating Max.

Queen: First boss and the catalyst for inviting Max into the castle.

Max the Magnificent: Final boss and primary antagonist of the game.

Game world

Exaggeratedly large to emphasize the smallness of the mice. The game takes place entirely in and around the castle. Key locations include the kitchen where the final battle takes place and the tower and room where the mice find the sword and horn.

Gameplay highlights/hooks/features

Play as a mouse! Summon hundreds of mice warrior ghosts a la Lord of the Rings! Fight a cat with your ghostly army!

Intended audience and how you will appeal to it

It’s based on a children’s book, so the game should be kid friendly, but it should still be fun to play for people of all ages. To maintain the appeal for children, the style will be cartoony and exaggerated. Additionally, Max is now a vegetarian, so all the mice he captured were actually caught and released.

Game style/player experience

The environment and characters will be stylistically exaggerated to add to the cartoony nature of the game. The goal is to ensure that the player experience is fun and enjoyable without getting too heavy.

Jack Riley

While it’s unsurprising that a children’s book has shallow characters and a morally simple plot, I’m interested in how “The Royal Mice” would look with more depth. This adaptation seeks to add that depth, as well as a neutral perspective from which to view the story’s events.

In terms of gameplay, the game would be an exploration based platformer. The player would control an unnamed mouse who observes the events of the book. The player would have to navigate rooms of the palace and avoid various dangers in order to witness the story unfold. Depending on which areas the player visits, they will see different the story’s different facets.

There are a few ways to add more depth to the game’s characters, as well as a bit of moral greyness. To start, rather than being purely heroic Cadbury is arrogant. Him acquiring the sword and horn will lead not only to the mice living safely in the castle, but also to him ruling the mice with the power of the summoned ghosts. Additionally, if the ghosts are summoned to fend off Max, they will slay the cat rather than scare him off, making the mice’s “salvation” more unpleasant. Further filling out the “pure evil” Max is the fact that if he fails to rid the castle of mice, the Queen will have him killed. Lastly, despite her cruel treatment of Max, the Queen gains some depth from the Royal Mice spreading deadly diseases throughout the castle rather than just being a nuisance.

The player will also be able to affect the story through the actions they take in the levels. For example, the player could find the sword and horn before Little Francis and choose to use it for their own goals rather than hand it off to Cadbury.

The ultimate goal of the game is to modify the story of “The Royal Mice” so that the overall plot stays the same, except for an ending determined by the player, where no choice is wholly correct.

 

Player objectives: Navigate levels to witness the story and affect it, avoid being caught by enemies and traps.

Game Mechanics: Classic platforming elements (jumping, running, etc.), a system of hiding from enemies.

Characters and Key Objects:

The PC– a nameless mouse who can observe or change the events of the story.

Cadbury– The loud and arrogant leader of the mice. He believes that only he is fit to properly lead the mice, and will go to great lengths to secure his power. Although his hubris might get him in trouble, he would not willingly endanger the mice he seeks to rule.

Guinevere– A noble mouse who’s currently being courted by Cadbury. She doesn’t care who’s in power as long as the mice are safe. She is willing to do anything to preserve them.

Little Francis– A young mouse who is dazzled by Cadbury’s charisma. He wants to emulate the ‘heroic’ mouse, and is always looking for ways to impress him. Aside from his hero, however, he is often caustic and rude.

Gilbert the Elder– A mouse of exceedingly advanced age. He has not grown this old through chivalry, and will use the knowledge he has gathered over the years to preserve himself above all else.

Max the Magnificent– A mighty mouse hunter summoned to rid the castle of mice. He will mercilessly kill any mouse he finds, partly out of the fear that if he fails to do so he will meet a similar fate.

The Queen of All You Can See– The queen of the kingdom, she has become horrified by the sickness spread by the castle’s mouse infestation. Saving her court from this threat is her top priority.

The Sword and the Horn– A legendary knight’s sword and hunting horn, hidden away in the walls of the castle. Blowing the horn will summon a host of ghostly mouse warriors, while the sword grants its wielder the authority to order the host.

Game World: The castle of the Queen of All You Can See. It consists of lush chambers, bustling kitchens, cold stone hallways, blustery castle parapets and other castle features.

Gameplay Highlights/Hooks/Features: Observing and affecting a new take on the story of “The Royal Mice”, platforming through storybook-style levels, discovering different sides to the game’s events through exploration.

Intended Audience: Older audiences, specifically those who can appreciate the story’s new moral ambiguity.

Game Style/ Player Experience: The game’s artistic style will be similar to the original’s storybook style. The player experience is designed to make the player think carefully about how they want the game to end, and wonder afterwards if they could have made a better choice.

 

 

 

My game is going to focus on the catch-and-run between Max the Magnificient and the mouse spirits. The gameplay of the game is basically a parkour game like Subway Surfers and Temple Run. In the Royal Mice Parkour (working title), the player will play as Max the magnificent and try to escape from the gathering of spirits.

In my game, the story is gonna be dark and creepy. After Casbury summoned the army of the spirits, death spread throughout the palace and almost all the living things are turned into zombies, ghosts, and monsters except Max the Magnificient. He must find a way out of the palace before it’s too late.

There will be boss battles in which the player will stand against special and strong spirits and even the princess who’s infected by the spirits and turned into a ghost. The art style of the game will be dark and creepy in which the spirit army of the mice will be depicted as zombies, ghosts, and monsters.

• Player objectives

The player will have to survive as long as they can in each level and fight the boss at the end of a level. Through the escape, the player can pick up different collectibles to upgrade Max the Magnificient.

• Game mechanics

The game is a traditional parkour game with boss battles. In the game, the player has to dodge or conquer obstacles to reach the boss battle. Through the escape, the player can pick up different collectibles to upgrade Max the Magnificient. In boss battles, the player has to dodge the boss’s attack and pick up different weapons to fight the boss.

• Characters and key objects

The main character is Max the Magnificent who’s controlled by the player.  And there are several types of enemies in the game. The most common one is the weak spirits who gather and run after Max the Magnificient. And there are several bosses. Some of them are strong spirits who have special abilities, and some of them are the servants and ministers in the palace who are infected by the spirits and turned into zombies and monsters. The final boss of the game is the princess who’s also infected by the spirits.

• Game world

The game happens after Casbury summoned the army of the spirits. Death spread out in the palace and almost all the living things are turned into zombies, ghosts, and monsters except Max the Magnificient. The game takes place in different places in the palace.

• Gameplay highlights/hooks/features

The game is a traditional parkour game with boss battles which are not common in parkour games. Also, the art style of the game is terrifying and creepy. The mix of these elements will make the game interesting to play.

• Intended audience and how you will appeal to it

The intended audience is parkour game lovers and horror game lovers.

• Game style/player experience

The game is somehow hardcore since parkour games are usually not easy not mentioning boss battles. The player will need to spend some time on the game to win it. Besides, there are going to be jump scares in the game so the game is quite intense.

• Concept Art